Sep052013

Under a Congressionally-approved federal pay formula, U.S. servicemen and women are slated to receive a 1.8 percent raise come January 1st. However, President Obama has announced that he wants to cap the increase at 1 percent.

As the Navy Times story indicates, President Obama’s letter to Congress about his decision said the U.S. is recovering “from serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare” requiring efforts to stay “on a sustainable fiscal course.”

The President has not only failed to fulfill his promise to go through the federal budget with a scalpel, but resisted the opportunity when it was offered up by Congress to avoid arbitrary cuts through the sequester. The President then went further to try and make certain constituencies “feel the pain” by opting for government furloughs and closing down White House Tours to the public rather than eliminating waste, all in an effort to convince the American people that any reductions to the growth of government would spell Armageddon.

We have two major budget battles on the horizon—a continuing resolution to keep the government operating and a request to increase the debt limit to avoid defaulting on our obligations. These two immediate concerns do not abdicate our responsibility to bring the individual appropriations bills to the floor. These are the times for us to fight our spending battles. Not with pay for our troops. I will work with my colleagues to override the President’s decision and ensure our servicemen and women remain at the top of our priority list when it comes to how we allocate our money.